President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said it was not possible for Ankara to stay on the sidelines of the US-backed Iraqi offensive against Islamic State in Mosul city.

&quot;We will be in the operation and we will be at the table,&quot; Erdogan said in a televised speech, AFP reported. &quot;Our brothers are there and our relatives are there. It is out of the question that we are not involved.&quot;

The Islamic State has held Mosul city since June 2014. The offensive to retake Iraq&#39;s second city has been hindered by a disagreement between Ankara and Baghdad over planning.

Turkey is worried over the possible involvement of Iraqi Shiite and anti-Ankara Kurdish militia in the offensive. Baghdad dislikes the presence of a contingent of Turkish troops in Bashiqa, north of Mosul. But Erdogan has clearly said that the troops will stay in Bashiqa.

&quot;No-one should expect us to leave Bashiqa. We are there and have made all kinds of operations against Daesh (IS).&quot;

Erdogan warned Turkey last week that if their&nbsp;concerns were not alleviated, they would consider a plan &quot;B&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;C&quot;.

Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said a diplomatic delegation led by foreign ministry undersecretary&nbsp;Umit Yalcin was on their way to the Iraqi capital for talks. He, however, warned of the dangers of a migrant influx.&nbsp;With some three million Syrians and Iraqis already in Turkey, the operation could go wrong.

&quot;If Mosul goes wrong, if people are forced to flee, where will they go? Presumably, they won&#39;t go to Washington. They will flee to Turkey,&quot; he said during a press conference in Ankara.&nbsp;&quot;That&#39;s why we say the Mosul operation must be done properly.&quot;

Kurtulmus reaffirmed Turkey&#39;s insistence that Mosul must retain its identity as a Sunni Arab majority city once IS is ousted, AFP reported.

&quot;Changing the sectarian demographic balance of Mosul will risk leading to serious problems,&quot; he said, saying powers needed to make sure the operation does not turn into a sectarian conflict.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The offensive to retake Iraq's second city from Islamic State has been hindered by a disagreement between Ankara and Baghdad over planning

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said it was not possible for Ankara to stay on the sidelines of the US-backed Iraqi offensive against Islamic State in Mosul city. "We will be in the operation and we will be at the table," Erdogan said in a televised speech, AFP reported. "Our brothers are there and our relatives are there. It is out of the question that we are not involved." The Islamic State has held Mosul city since June 2014. The offensive to retake Iraq's second city has been hindered by a disagreement between Ankara and Baghdad over planning. Turkey is worried over the possible involvement of Iraqi Shiite and anti-Ankara Kurdish militia in the offensive. Baghdad dislikes the presence of a contingent of Turkish troops in Bashiqa, north of Mosul. But Erdogan has clearly said that the troops will stay in Bashiqa. "No-one should expect us to leave Bashiqa. We are there and have made all kinds of operations against Daesh (IS)." Erdogan warned Turkey last week that if their concerns were not alleviated, they would consider a plan "B" or "C". Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said a diplomatic delegation led by foreign ministry undersecretary Umit Yalcin was on their way to the Iraqi capital for talks. He, however, warned of the dangers of a migrant influx. With some three million Syrians and Iraqis already in Turkey, the operation could go wrong. "If Mosul goes wrong, if people are forced to flee, where will they go? Presumably, they won't go to Washington. They will flee to Turkey," he said during a press conference in Ankara. "That's why we say the Mosul operation must be done properly." Kurtulmus reaffirmed Turkey's insistence that Mosul must retain its identity as a Sunni Arab majority city once IS is ousted, AFP reported. "Changing the sectarian demographic balance of Mosul will risk leading to serious problems," he said, saying powers needed to make sure the operation does not turn into a sectarian conflict. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Turkish President Erdogan: Will take part in Mosul offensive against IS

While travelling to Qayyarah, a two-hour-drive from Mosul, WION had the chance to interview Iraqi Army Major General Najim al-Jabouri soon after he met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad. He is the commander of the Nineveh Operations, an offensive that aims to liberate south of Mosul. He is in-charge of the Mosul offensive and currently leads approximately 25,000 men.

WION: How are you preparing for the Mosul operation? 

General al-Jabouri: Our troops are ready to attack Islamic State in Mosul and retake the city. The coalition forces gave us good training, equipped us with modern equipment. We are just waiting for the prime minister&nbsp;to give us the order to attack. We are confident about the battle since we have liberated many cities, important cities in Nineveh (governorate), including Qayyara a few weeks ago. Right now, we are now coordinating with the Peshmerga (Kurdish military forces). Some brigades have already moved to the station areas near Mosul.

WION: How long will the battle last? And do you expect a large presence of IS&nbsp;fighters?

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;I think&nbsp;IS&nbsp;is not as strong as it was two months ago or six months ago. They have lost many good fighters. Many of them were killed, many of them got injured and many of them escaped.

IS is different from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda believed in a cause but the majority of IS jihadists are like the mafia &mdash;&nbsp;they look for money, they look for women, they look for power.

A few months ago when we began the battle in Qayyarah, we faced strong fighters. The foreigners were especially strong. But the group has weakened. Now, we hardly lose our men even during intense gunfights. The last battle in Qayyarah, four or five days ago, we killed 66 people of theirs and lost not even a single one of ours. Also, we hardly face any foreign fighters anymore.

The local fighters are not that good because they are only interested in earning money. Such attitude is destroying the moral of IS.

The loss in Qayyarah was also financially damaging for IS. They are losing $1 million every day since they lost out in Qayyarah. When they were here, they stole oil and sold about a hundred trucks of it every day.

WION: How important will local support be&nbsp;in your battle for Mosul? 

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;Their (residents of Mosul) support&nbsp;is very vital. Even the strongest security force&nbsp;will be unable to defeat IS if they don&#39;t get support from the locals.

If the locals did not give IS a safe haven, it would have been impossible for them to grow in strength.

In my view, people were unhappy with the security forces in Iraq. This was one of the main reasons for IS to thrive in the area. We worked very hard to change this relationship, we built many bridges between us and the people. You are free to go&nbsp;to Qayyarah and to other villages and ask the people about us. Now, locals support us whenever we fight the IS. This will build the future of this area and Iraq.

WION: Will Shia militia organisation Hal Al-Hashd Al-Sha&#39;abi have any role during the Mosul Operation?

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;Maybe we will need their support. Only the commander-in-chief (the Iraqi prime minister) can decide on such matters. But they will not enter the city if we need them. They will have to go to the desert to cut off IS&#39; supplies. But the battle will be mainly fought by the Iraqi army, the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces and the police. The Peshmerga will help us as well.

WION: What do you make of Turkey&#39;s role? 

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;About the Turkish &hellip; I am a military commander, these are issues concerning the central (Iraqi) government and Turkey, but as an Iraqi &hellip; we don&rsquo;t need boots on the ground here. We don&#39;t even need the coalition forces. We depend on them for training, for advice&nbsp;and for launch air strikes on IS&nbsp;positions. If Turkey is part of the coalition forces, it works for me. If they do what the coalition forces&nbsp;say, I don&#39;t think there would be a problem. But we do not need anybody to act independently.

WION: Are you afraid that after Mosul, IS&nbsp;will launch suicide attacks across Iraq?

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;They do not have the capability to do such things.

WION: Do you plan to liberate Hawija before Mosul?

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;Hawija is not under my command, but I think the government is thinking about it. Mosul is the head of a snake, the last castle for the IS. But I think if we had retaken Mosul earlier, even before Ramani and before every other area, we would have wiped out Daesh (Islamic State) much earlier.&nbsp;

WION: So you think the strategy was wrong?

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;No, this is my view. I think the head of the snake is Mosul because it is a big city, it has good foundation, many factories and&nbsp;many resources. IS in Iraq and even in Syria rely on resources coming from Mosul.

WION: If IS&nbsp;fighters manage to escape Iraq and enter Syria, will the Iraqi army follow them and help Syrian forces fight them?&nbsp;

al-Jabouri:&nbsp;If my commander-in-chief gives me an order, I will follow them in Syria, in Nigeria, everywhere.&nbsp;

(WION)

Possibly the most important military person in West Asia, who is leading 25,000 men, spoke to WION about the fight against Islamic State

While travelling to Qayyarah, a two-hour-drive from Mosul, WION had the chance to interview Iraqi Army Major General Najim al-Jabouri soon after he met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad. He is the commander of the Nineveh Operations, an offensive that aims to liberate south of Mosul. He is in-charge of the Mosul offensive and currently leads approximately 25,000 men. WION: How are you preparing for the Mosul operation? General al-Jabouri: Our troops are ready to attack Islamic State in Mosul and retake the city. The coalition forces gave us good training, equipped us with modern equipment. We are just waiting for the prime minister to give us the order to attack. We are confident about the battle since we have liberated many cities, important cities in Nineveh (governorate), including Qayyara a few weeks ago. Right now, we are now coordinating with the Peshmerga (Kurdish military forces). Some brigades have already moved to the station areas near Mosul. WION: How long will the battle last? And do you expect a large presence of IS fighters? al-Jabouri: I think IS is not as strong as it was two months ago or six months ago. They have lost many good fighters. Many of them were killed, many of them got injured and many of them escaped. IS is different from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda believed in a cause but the majority of IS jihadists are like the mafia — they look for money, they look for women, they look for power. A few months ago when we began the battle in Qayyarah, we faced strong fighters. The foreigners were especially strong. But the group has weakened. Now, we hardly lose our men even during intense gunfights. The last battle in Qayyarah, four or five days ago, we killed 66 people of theirs and lost not even a single one of ours. Also, we hardly face any foreign fighters anymore. The local fighters are not that good because they are only interested in earning money. Such attitude is destroying the moral of IS. The loss in Qayyarah was also financially damaging for IS. They are losing $1 million every day since they lost out in Qayyarah. When they were here, they stole oil and sold about a hundred trucks of it every day. WION: How important will local support be in your battle for Mosul? al-Jabouri: Their (residents of Mosul) support is very vital. Even the strongest security force will be unable to defeat IS if they don't get support from the locals. If the locals did not give IS a safe haven, it would have been impossible for them to grow in strength. In my view, people were unhappy with the security forces in Iraq. This was one of the main reasons for IS to thrive in the area. We worked very hard to change this relationship, we built many bridges between us and the people. You are free to go to Qayyarah and to other villages and ask the people about us. Now, locals support us whenever we fight the IS. This will build the future of this area and Iraq. WION: Will Shia militia organisation Hal Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi have any role during the Mosul Operation? al-Jabouri: Maybe we will need their support. Only the commander-in-chief (the Iraqi prime minister) can decide on such matters. But they will not enter the city if we need them. They will have to go to the desert to cut off IS' supplies. But the battle will be mainly fought by the Iraqi army, the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces and the police. The Peshmerga will help us as well. WION: What do you make of Turkey's role? al-Jabouri: About the Turkish … I am a military commander, these are issues concerning the central (Iraqi) government and Turkey, but as an Iraqi … we don’t need boots on the ground here. We don't even need the coalition forces. We depend on them for training, for advice and for launch air strikes on IS positions. If Turkey is part of the coalition forces, it works for me. If they do what the coalition forces say, I don't think there would be a problem. But we do not need anybody to act independently. WION: Are you afraid that after Mosul, IS will launch suicide attacks across Iraq? al-Jabouri: They do not have the capability to do such things. WION: Do you plan to liberate Hawija before Mosul? al-Jabouri: Hawija is not under my command, but I think the government is thinking about it. Mosul is the head of a snake, the last castle for the IS. But I think if we had retaken Mosul earlier, even before Ramani and before every other area, we would have wiped out Daesh (Islamic State) much earlier. WION: So you think the strategy was wrong? al-Jabouri: No, this is my view. I think the head of the snake is Mosul because it is a big city, it has good foundation, many factories and many resources. IS in Iraq and even in Syria rely on resources coming from Mosul. WION: If IS fighters manage to escape Iraq and enter Syria, will the Iraqi army follow them and help Syrian forces fight them? al-Jabouri: If my commander-in-chief gives me an order, I will follow them in Syria, in Nigeria, everywhere. (WION)

Iraqi army poised to retake 'Islamic State's last castle of Mosul', Major General Najim al-Jabouri tells WION

After kilometres of a perfectly built road crossing along an empty and harsh desert Iraqi environment, a small checkpoint appears.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Documents! Where are you going?,&rdquo; an official says. &nbsp;

&ldquo;Mahkmour.&rdquo; The small town is roughly a hundred kilometres south of Mosul. Its hospital, which receives several injured by firearms on a daily basis, will be one of the many structures close to the southern frontline of the Mosul offensive. &nbsp;

&ldquo;No, you can&rsquo;t go to Mahkmour. Speak with the commander,&rdquo; says roughly, a soldier pointing towards an old house on the top of a hill.

The post seems to represent the current Iraqi situation, a place where war has become constant. Military life has become so routine and normal that soldiers care little to exhibit an image of order and discipline. Their rooms are not as the ones we usually imagine: tidy, clean, modular. Probably they were, but after spending years in the same checkpoint in the middle of Iraq, aesthetic becomes less important day by day. Beds are slightly sloppy, evidence of one of the many early and hasty wakening. Shoes are everywhere and weapons - mainly AK-47 - lie on the beds and under the pillows. Walls are not well painted and the floors not too clean. It resembles a long-term jail but without the family pictures, drawings, books or posters, nothing which helps to understand the identity of the people living there. Everything looks impersonal, only imperfections personalise the place: an open packet of cigarettes on the bed, a sun cream tube on a pillow, a movie ticket on the floor, an ashtray full of cigarettes&rsquo; butt on the end of a rifle.&nbsp;

The whole atmosphere is the one of a place where nobody wants to be, but it is forced to.

The commander sits in the operational room, his fatigue is open and worn in a casual way, it is slightly bigger than his size. He does not speak a single word of English, only German which he learned when training in Koln. A young Peshmerga soldier approaches the window, he speaks French and is willing to help. &ldquo;I studied French at the university of Mosul before Daesh came,&rdquo; he says. The university has now been shut down, he decided to voluntarily join the Peshmerga army after he was forced to flee Mosul with his family. &nbsp;

&ldquo;Why are you going there?&rdquo;, asks the commander swatting a fly in a swift motion.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We want to visit the hospital close to the frontline and understand how things are going there.&rdquo;

The atmosphere is calm, almost dozy due to the noon heat. The commander looks at us with the expression of a man who found on his way an annoying event which he would have preferably avoided, but now is forced to manage. Several phone calls later the hospital manager agreed to pick us up and take us to Doctor Saman, who prefers not to disclose his surname.

&ldquo;Fighting is going on in many areas between Mahkmour and Mosul and everyday we have to heal firearms injuries and send the patients to the bigger hospital in Erbil&rdquo;. The hospital is clean, but small, too small for the number of injured who could arrive once the official operations to liberate Mosul starts.&nbsp;

&ldquo;I think the doctors are not enough for this situation of war. I think the equipment here is not enough. I think that even the medication we have in order to stabilise a patient, especially in case of emergency, from the frontline is not enough. I am asking the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide us with further medication, further staff,&rdquo; says doctor Saman.

&ldquo;How many doctors you have here?&rdquo;

&ldquo;We do not have resident doctors. We have rotating doctors coming for a six-day-a-month shift from the capital city (Erbil) and two medical assistants.&rdquo;

The situation in Mahkmour&rsquo;s medical facility does not differ from the several others in the area. These structures were mostly built for small towns, and meant to be primary media points with the function of stabilising a patient and send him or her to larger, better-equipped hospitals.&nbsp;

The city lies close to what will most likely be the battle of Mosul&rsquo;s southern frontline. It won&rsquo;t be easy to manage the impact of the major ground operation in Iraq, that has been constantly battered since the last four years.&nbsp;

Every time a patient with bullet injuries arrives, doctors have to inform the national security agency, the Asayish which comes in to assess if the patient is a possible Islamic State terrorist.

&ldquo;As a doctor there is not even a need to ask this question. My job is to save everyone so even if I have to heal a Daesh terrorist I do it, then the security will do the rest.&rdquo;

A car with three members of the Asayish reaches us in the hospital parking and does not abandon us from that moment onwards, primarily to control our movements. This is something else which happens in war torn areas: limitations.

There are places where you can&rsquo;t go, things you can&rsquo;t do, words you can&rsquo;t say, streets you can&rsquo;t walk. This is what war does beside claiming lives: it is pervasive, it pauses normality. Whatever the topic, war and its consequences will sooner or later appear. Speaking with a barber while shaving you discover he fled Mosul, the fruit seller at the corner lost his brother in Sinjial against Daesh one year ago, the neighbour&rsquo;s son left his studies to join the army and fight. Casual interlocutors over a tea or a cigarette have always a war story to tell.

It invades minds and movements and becomes a constant, unwanted guest in the majority of conversations and considerations.

(WION) 
&nbsp;

Four years of fighting and destruction have left hospitals scant, and Iraqis impassive to war

After kilometres of a perfectly built road crossing along an empty and harsh desert Iraqi environment, a small checkpoint appears. “Documents! Where are you going?,” an official says. “Mahkmour.” The small town is roughly a hundred kilometres south of Mosul. Its hospital, which receives several injured by firearms on a daily basis, will be one of the many structures close to the southern frontline of the Mosul offensive. “No, you can’t go to Mahkmour. Speak with the commander,” says roughly, a soldier pointing towards an old house on the top of a hill. The post seems to represent the current Iraqi situation, a place where war has become constant. Military life has become so routine and normal that soldiers care little to exhibit an image of order and discipline. Their rooms are not as the ones we usually imagine: tidy, clean, modular. Probably they were, but after spending years in the same checkpoint in the middle of Iraq, aesthetic becomes less important day by day. Beds are slightly sloppy, evidence of one of the many early and hasty wakening. Shoes are everywhere and weapons - mainly AK-47 - lie on the beds and under the pillows. Walls are not well painted and the floors not too clean. It resembles a long-term jail but without the family pictures, drawings, books or posters, nothing which helps to understand the identity of the people living there. Everything looks impersonal, only imperfections personalise the place: an open packet of cigarettes on the bed, a sun cream tube on a pillow, a movie ticket on the floor, an ashtray full of cigarettes’ butt on the end of a rifle. The whole atmosphere is the one of a place where nobody wants to be, but it is forced to. The commander sits in the operational room, his fatigue is open and worn in a casual way, it is slightly bigger than his size. He does not speak a single word of English, only German which he learned when training in Koln. A young Peshmerga soldier approaches the window, he speaks French and is willing to help. “I studied French at the university of Mosul before Daesh came,” he says. The university has now been shut down, he decided to voluntarily join the Peshmerga army after he was forced to flee Mosul with his family. “Why are you going there?”, asks the commander swatting a fly in a swift motion. “We want to visit the hospital close to the frontline and understand how things are going there.” The atmosphere is calm, almost dozy due to the noon heat. The commander looks at us with the expression of a man who found on his way an annoying event which he would have preferably avoided, but now is forced to manage. Several phone calls later the hospital manager agreed to pick us up and take us to Doctor Saman, who prefers not to disclose his surname. “Fighting is going on in many areas between Mahkmour and Mosul and everyday we have to heal firearms injuries and send the patients to the bigger hospital in Erbil”. The hospital is clean, but small, too small for the number of injured who could arrive once the official operations to liberate Mosul starts. “I think the doctors are not enough for this situation of war. I think the equipment here is not enough. I think that even the medication we have in order to stabilise a patient, especially in case of emergency, from the frontline is not enough. I am asking the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide us with further medication, further staff,” says doctor Saman. “How many doctors you have here?” “We do not have resident doctors. We have rotating doctors coming for a six-day-a-month shift from the capital city (Erbil) and two medical assistants.” The situation in Mahkmour’s medical facility does not differ from the several others in the area. These structures were mostly built for small towns, and meant to be primary media points with the function of stabilising a patient and send him or her to larger, better-equipped hospitals. The city lies close to what will most likely be the battle of Mosul’s southern frontline. It won’t be easy to manage the impact of the major ground operation in Iraq, that has been constantly battered since the last four years. Every time a patient with bullet injuries arrives, doctors have to inform the national security agency, the Asayish which comes in to assess if the patient is a possible Islamic State terrorist. “As a doctor there is not even a need to ask this question. My job is to save everyone so even if I have to heal a Daesh terrorist I do it, then the security will do the rest.” A car with three members of the Asayish reaches us in the hospital parking and does not abandon us from that moment onwards, primarily to control our movements. This is something else which happens in war torn areas: limitations. There are places where you can’t go, things you can’t do, words you can’t say, streets you can’t walk. This is what war does beside claiming lives: it is pervasive, it pauses normality. Whatever the topic, war and its consequences will sooner or later appear. Speaking with a barber while shaving you discover he fled Mosul, the fruit seller at the corner lost his brother in Sinjial against Daesh one year ago, the neighbour’s son left his studies to join the army and fight. Casual interlocutors over a tea or a cigarette have always a war story to tell. It invades minds and movements and becomes a constant, unwanted guest in the majority of conversations and considerations. (WION)

Life in Mosul: Iraq's medical facilities fear humanitarian disaster as another battle approaches

Britain confirmed a major offensive by Iraqi security forces to recapture the key northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State militants &quot;in the next few weeks&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Britain&#39;s defence secretary Michael Fallon said on Friday, &quot;Though Mosul is a large and complex city, it will fall and will fall soon. I expect the operation for its encirclement to begin in the next few weeks,&quot; following a three-day trip to Iraq. 
 
The Iraqi forces were moving to a tactical assembly area in preparation for the assault and received air support from the British Tornado and Typhoon aircrafts from the UK air base in Cyprus.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We&#39;ll stand by them. We&#39;ll support them. We will make it do-able for them,&quot; a senior Royal Air Force officer Air Commodore Sammy Sampson said. 
 
The British warplanes destroyed several militant positions in recent days. IS weapons stockpiles and rocket launchers north of Ramadi were also hit in the strikes.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We were striking targets to weaken (IS-held) Mosul from the very beginning of the campaign,&quot; said Sampson, who is based in the Combined Air Operations Centre in Qatar. 
 
Mosul is the IS group&#39;s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

British warplanes provide air support to Iraqi troops in targeting IS positions ahead of major offensive to retake Mosul

Britain confirmed a major offensive by Iraqi security forces to recapture the key northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State militants "in the next few weeks". Britain's defence secretary Michael Fallon said on Friday, "Though Mosul is a large and complex city, it will fall and will fall soon. I expect the operation for its encirclement to begin in the next few weeks," following a three-day trip to Iraq. The Iraqi forces were moving to a tactical assembly area in preparation for the assault and received air support from the British Tornado and Typhoon aircrafts from the UK air base in Cyprus. "We'll stand by them. We'll support them. We will make it do-able for them," a senior Royal Air Force officer Air Commodore Sammy Sampson said. The British warplanes destroyed several militant positions in recent days. IS weapons stockpiles and rocket launchers north of Ramadi were also hit in the strikes. "We were striking targets to weaken (IS-held) Mosul from the very beginning of the campaign," said Sampson, who is based in the Combined Air Operations Centre in Qatar. Mosul is the IS group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq, 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. (WION with inputs from agencies)

British warplanes hit IS posts ahead of major Iraqi offensive on Mosul

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Turkish President Erdogan: Will take part in Mosul offensive against IS

Iraqi army poised to retake 'Islamic State's last castle of Mosul', Major General Najim al-Jabouri tells WION

Life in Mosul: Iraq's medical facilities fear humanitarian disaster as another battle approaches

British warplanes hit IS posts ahead of major Iraqi offensive on Mosul